The Great Clans
by Wisecrack Idiots
Summary: This is the beginning of the end, how three ancient Clans — LionClan, LeopardClan, and TigerClan — simply vanished forevermore off the face of the earth...
1. Author's Note and Allegiances

P.R.E.A.M.B.L.E.

_Before Thunder, Wind, Sky, Shadow and River led their own cats to spill blood on a sacred hollow guarded by four oaks; before any young feline dreamed, schemed, devised a warrior code on which peace and unity could be kept and retained; before history fell into legend, and mythology was fact—south of a lake lived forest, beyond the tumbling flow of water in the shadow of a ravine, many paw steps to the south over mountain and moor—there, too, existed a forest. Only the creatures—hunters and hunted—were bigger. The world was shrinking. And three golden cats, by far larger than any Twoleg pet, called this dangerous place their home. And they were LionClan, TigerClan and LeopardClan. This is the beginning of the end, how three ancient Clans simply vanished forevermore off the face of the earth..._

**  
****TigerClan** was the largest of the three Clans; massive felines as huge as horses, with night-colored stripes that sliced across orange pelts. They were powerful and wily.

Then there was **LionClan**, cats with the warmth of light in their fur and golden, flowing manes like rays of the sun. They were courageous and gentle.

At last came **LeopardClan**, sleek and yellow-furred warriors who had racing paw prints spotting their long pelts. These cats were clever and quick.

For many uncountable seasons the warriors coexisted in uneasy harmony, dividing their forest into three territories. On the the edge of the rivers and meadows, staking part of the moorland, was LeopardClan's vast territory. In recent times they had gained control of the river through brave Fleetfoot's heroics, and feasted on the plump fish and waterfowl. Rabbits fell to their claws when hunting on the unbroken plateau and gorse. Young wild boar stood no chance, nor did deer. A few windswept trees, but apart from that leopards prowled the auburn grasses in silence and secrecy.

TigerClan's territory continued next; the shared border was a sett of jutting rocks that made a huge line of upturned stone growing awkwardly from the forest floor. Their vast territory was an expanse of ragged earth littered with broken stones. Prey hid in the cracks here. Leading up to the rock field was a forest of dark trees, lush and musty. Nocturnal animals hid among the shadows with their hunters. Pines, ferns, lightless undergrowth—it was no wonder that tigers were so accustomed to finding their way in the dark.

LionClan and TigerClan's shared border lay east of Fourtrees, a thin, shallow creek that wound off at a sandy cleft. Meadows, fields, running streams—a large majority of their territory was sunny and layered with stunted trees and gnarled shrubs. Downwind, beeches, oaks, maples and sycamores grew abundant, rich with the small, fluttering and scrabbling animals that made a cat's heart pump. LionClan basked in the sunshine of their smooth, long and grassy territory.

It seemed that with life as it was, the three Clans of wild cats could flourish under their ancestor's insight and guidance forever. So no one expected tragedy to strike from the most unlikely of places when a bitter dawn transformed their world—and lives—forever.

**About The Fanfiction**

This is a sort of continuation from Secrets of the Clans. Our story begins on the edge of a great plain inhabited by lions, tigers and leopards. As the warrior Clans of cats thrive in UK forests, these golden-pelted jungle cats live around the northern tips of "Africa." All three species—well, two, really—are native. Tigers are found in Asia, though ancestral and historical fossils date back ancient big-cat species roaming farther west during glacial time periods know as the Ice Age (which, ironically enough, is part of my story). It is also believed species inhabited the Caucasus, a mountain range near Turkey and Siberia. For the writing of my fanfiction I assumed it safe to let tigers live on the edge of "Africa," or an African-like setting.

Wild boar, such as Fury and Rage from Secrets of the Clans, are also animals that thrive on the tips of northern Africa and well into Europe and Russia. They must have lived in similar habitats in order for Fleetfoot to have killed both. Some of these animals will make appearances—not many, but enough to enhance the feel of the kingdom these three Clans held in their power. The forest they live in is modeled after the Clans' old forest, but not the exact one. It will also have additional, unheard of places in their territories.

The Great Clans also revere StarClan just as the five Clans do. Despite the time difference they still worship the same set of starry ancestors. Explaining why these ancient cats do not roam the dreams of the current-day Clan leaders will also be revealed in later chapters, and why the prologue is the way that it is.

**A L L E G I A N C E S**

* Main Caracters

**L I O N C L A N**

**LEADER** * Goldenstar — large golden lion with a flowing mane  
**DEPUTY** Orangespot — long-tailed broad-shouldered lioness with amber eyes  
**Apprentice**, Petalpaw  
**MEDICINE CAT** Rainpad — elderly lion with foggy blue eyes; virtually blind  
**Apprentice**, Beetleflight — dark-colored lion  
**WARRIORS** Flareheart — pale ginger lioness  
Whitefoot — unusual white lioness with even paler legs  
**Apprentice**, Lemonpaw  
Lizardclaw — long-muzzled, ornery lioness with a black mane  
Ravinefall — long-whiskered lion with cream underbelly  
**Apprentice**, Rockpaw  
Yellowtooth — unkempt lioness with scarred flanks and ears  
Glowingleaf — a young golden lion  
Sunpelt — hotheaded lion; known for his bargain with Mouthclaw the snake  
Gingernose — dark ginger (almost brown) lion  
Dawnflower — long-furred bright she-cat with black eyes  
**APPRENTICES** Lemonpaw — yellow large-pawed tom with green eyes  
* Petalpaw — small round-eared lioness with amber eyes; Goldenstar's sole daughter  
Rockpaw — sturdy lion with a wiry, black mane  
**QUEENS** Hollythorn — long-legged, with a short tail; mother of Pebblekit and Flowerkit  
Burntfur — has an unusually thick scruff and amber eyes  
Eagleswoop — battle-ready female; kits: Honeykit, Hootkit and Lightkit.  
**ELDERS** Mudpool — elderly gray lion with a missing ear and darker underbelly  
Toothless — scrawny yellow pelt—male—missing most of his teeth  
Startledmouse — short-tempered, elderly she-cat  
Charcoaleye — long-furred lioness

**T I G E R C L A N**

**LEADER** * Shadestar — broad, muscular tigress with unusually long claws  
**Apprentice**, Marshpaw  
**DEPUTY **Cinderwhisker — gray, aging tiger with almost no whiskers  
**MEDICINE CAT** Milkfur— pure white tigress with milky gray stripes  
**WARRIORS** Bandedleg — dark-legged tiger with jet-black paws; has blue eyes  
**Apprentice**, Acornpaw  
Loudsnarl — huge tigress with a scarred pelt  
**Apprentice**, Timberpaw  
Blackstripe — very darkly striped tiger with a wide face  
Roaringwind — glossy lithe tigress, green eyes  
**Apprentice**, Shadowpaw  
Stripedpelt — small skinny golden tigress with lots of stripes  
Boulderstep — heavyset tom, dark green eyes  
Adderclaw — handsome golden tiger; has very smoky stripes  
Thorntooth — large golden tom, pitch-black stripes; stole kits from other Clans and raided piles of fresh-kill; rebuked, and "earned" his Clan their stripes  
Nightstorm — dull orange tigress with blue eyes and broad bands across face  
Snakemoon — tabby-striped tiger with large, brownish eyes  
**APPRENTICES **Marshpaw — oddly-colored creamy brown tiger  
* Timberpaw — lighter gray-striped tiger with yellow eyes  
Shadowpaw — a dark she-cat  
Acornpaw — heavyset tiger with short, neat ears  
**QUEENS** Kestrelcry — long-furred pale queen, suckling Emberkit, Marshkit, and Oakenkit (Crowear's kin)  
Earthpowder — pretty pelt and elongated face with a single white paw; mother of Boarkit  
**ELDERS** Deadface — ragged tiger missing tufts of fur with a battle-scarred muzzle; has a torn ear  
Nobleheart — partially mute tom with a missing leg  
Redpoppy — reddish, auburn tiger with a long tail; formerly the deputy

**L E O P A R D C L A N**

**  
****LEADER** * Swiftstar — lithe, agile she-leopard that has a rounded muzzle  
**Apprentice**, Twigpaw  
**DEPUTY** Brackenwhisker — mottled (almost tan) she-leopard that's feathery-whiskered  
**Apprentice**, Wavepaw  
**MEDICINE CAT** Racingspots — male leopard with many black spots  
**Apprentice**, Birchleaf — yellow tom with a brown chest and muzzle  
**WARRIORS** Fleetfoot — proud she-leopard with massive paws; killed Rage and Fury the boars  
**Apprentice**, Earthpaw  
Rabbitwind — lightly spotted she-cat  
Finchflight — long-tailed leopard, has green eyes  
Speckleclaw — fast, gnarled-clawed she-leopard  
Riverflower — muscular tomcat with partial tabby markings and a bushy tail  
**Apprentice**, Bluepaw  
Minnowrush — a lean warrior; has blue eyes and a smooth pelt  
**Apprentice**, Stagpaw  
Grainpelt — nimble, splotched tomcat with jet-black ears  
Jumpingheart — a golden she-cat; has strong back legs and amber eyes  
Rappidclaw — dappled leopard with a fierce, jagged face  
Breezefang — three-legged wiry tom  
**APPRENTICES** * Twigpaw — long-tailed leopard, brown eyes  
Earthpaw — dark leopard, pale spots  
Wavepaw — she-cat with smooth fur and pale blue eyes  
Bluepaw — blue-eyed she-leopard, black fur rimming her left eye  
Stagpaw — dark, skinny tomcat; heavily ribbed flanks  
**QUEENS** Ripplestripe — beautiful, spotted coat and a black, narrow muzzle; mother of Tuftedkit  
Palefur — creamy queen with darker spots, nursing Hawkkit, Gallopkit, and Mosskit  
Spottedthroat — heavily pregnant she-leopard  
**ELDERS** Quicksilver — skinny tom that has a pale coat and jet-black spots  
Pebblefur — once pretty slender she-cat with green eyes  
Waterfall — small, stocky lion with chilling ice-blue eyes; a prisoner

**  
****CATS OUTSIDE THE CLANS**

Cascadingtail — male tiger charged with the murder of Crowear  
Silhouette — female sand cat with suggestive tabby striping

**OTHER ANIMALS**

Twilit — a female badger with beady, black eyes, that lives by the sea


	2. Prologue: Goldenstar Speaks

I, like many of my archaic kin, have stood sentinel for eons upon eons until our once lustrous and icy, transparent fur had faded to crystalline dust. Our voices, once the thunderous roars that caused vibrations to rattle trees' branches, has nearly muted to a whisper. You have no idea the efforts it costs me to speak even now.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Well, you should, young one; because that's what I am: a wayward spirit forced to counting time as it slips between my pads like running sand.

Some days it still amazes me to look at the cats I call descendants and compare them to their ancestors. Apart from sharing the word "feline" as a genus, and having whiskers, it would be difficult to imagine us bounding stride for stride together. The Clans of wildcats aren't what they used to be; they fear everything bigger than themselves, including the Twolegs, creatures that we once _hunted_ if they threatened our existence.

I see the bewilderment glittering in your irises. Ironically the creatures that once were scarcely an issue have now become are greatest enemies. They, who fell forests; they, who dry up rivers; they, who level mountains into barren wastelands. Those mechanical "monsters" they ride in were once the equivalent to the spears and arrows we encountered long, long ago on the battlements.

Everything in this world we inhabit is so delicate, just like the petals of a flower...

My dear, beloved Petalpaw. I wonder what became of her benevolent and ferocious spirit? Decades have passed since we last brushed pelts, caressed with our muzzles, and breathed in each others' scents. And my Clan! They were left leaderless when they needed me the most, and for that reason, I am in eternal shame and condemnation. The worst had befallen us that year, and the ultimate challenge called forth from our ranks the noblest of cats—from all of the Clans. Perhaps I... No; there are better ways to preserve history than ramble about its ever-winding slipstream.

If you would, settle, and prepare yourself for a long night. There is much to be shared between you and I before the sun rises...


	3. Chapter One: Stampede

Cicadas' vibrating chirrups gave the air a bumpy, unfaltering nocturne that seemed to consist of their camp's omnipresent heartbeat.

Petalpaw fidgeted in her nest of bracken and moss, conscious of her denmates' identical golden torsos compressed around her in a loose tangle of limbs, tails, and muzzles. Snores filled the air in a steady drone, blocking out the insects' chorus. The black-maned Rockpaw gave a jerk with one of his hind legs and kicked her in the back of the neck, sending an electrical jolt of pain through her nerves.

Acutely aware of the oppressive heat of the dry-earth season, and the sweat uncomfortably beading her nape, Petalpaw found her resolution dwindling away like a tattered cobweb. Climbing to her paws with as much delicateness as she could muster, the apprentice slunk out from under the complex network of branches that composed the bramble bush. Relief reflexively twitched her claws, unsheathed.

In the arid camp stalks of coarse, auburn grass blades ringed the circular hollow. Allowing her soft gaze to fall into sync with her memorization of the scenery, Petalpaw embraced it all: the tall and gangly trees on the outskirts of their camp, the dark veins detailed in the leaves, Silverpelt's spirits in the stars illuminating their world with their blazing, crystalline silver.

The homely familiarities comforted the apprentice's forebodings, and reluctantly she flattened her bristling fur.

Tomorrow was her assessment; if she did well, then she would go to the Gathering in two night's time with her warrior name donned upon her shoulders.

That was why she felt as if she had moths fluttering their powdery wings inside her knotted stomach; that was why she was condemned to temporary insomnia, and forced to count the seconds as they numbered off in her head. _Four hundred and sixteen, four hundred and seventeen, four hundred and eighteen..._

Mental images of her Clanmates' ridiculing leers and the steady hum of their scorn rang in her ears, and her counting faltered. _Mouse dung!_ cursed Petalpaw sourly with a reedy lash of her tail.

Nothing could send her off into blissful dreams. Whatever she did, the golden feline was certain that substituting her fear with shaky confidence wouldn't save her in time from failing the assessment. _Goldenstar's daughter, the only apprentice who failed to become a warrior. I'll be a laughingstock. What enemy cat from another Clan would honor my name as the failed, miserable wretched kin of the leader of LionClan?_

It would have been incorrect to credit herself with failure; incapability and talentless were adjectives that better-suited her. On her last three hunting missions she had failed to bring back anything. _At this rate_, she mused with a pinch of melancholy, _I'll have to depend on other lions to pin my prey for me just so that I can say that I landed a deathblow. With_ help.

As the deputy's apprentice and the sole surviving kit of Goldenstar's only litter, she was going t uphold their legacy and continue his lineage as a proud and ferocious fighter. Every battle move replayed in her mind; to nurse her nightmarish terrors of failure and perfectionism, Petalpaw decided to practice. _Orangspot wouldn't see any harm in that_, decided the lioness with suppressed trepidation. _A little extra practice. No big deal. Just take it one paw step at a time..._

Hackles bristling and weight evenly distributed between her four limbs, Petalpaw crouched. Her gaze roved the camp's fringes; on sentry duty were Sunpelt and Lizardclaw, pressed almost flank-to-flank with stony bearing. Occasionally one of their ears would twitch, or they would exchange a private dialogue with their spines to her.

Fangs bared, Petalpaw pinpointed a spot a fox-length away and focused her attention on it. Stalking on silent pads with her muscles tensed, the she-cat braced herself to spring.

Just as she leaped up into the air with an awkward twist, clasping her paws on a latent breeze, the two guards scrambled into upright positions with their ears pricked and hairs spiked out.

Her landing was interrupted by this display of hostility, and Petalpaw feebly managed to skid on her heels and tilt to the left in the completion of the hawk hunting technique.

For a moment an electrical intensity crackled in the air like a thunderhead about to break. Petalpaw parted her jaws and inhaled, drawing the air over her scent glands. What could have prompted such a strong reaction from the warriors?

Indigo crept across the horizon line, staining the sky with its spillage of multicolored, vibrant shades.

Silence. And then—

Thunder rumbled, an oddity considering that no clouds romped across the empyrean. Petalpaw nervously slipped across the sandy clearing toward Sunpelt and Lizardclaw with her heartbeat accelerating. She inhaled a sharp breath, about to call out and question the them about what was going on, when the thunder's tempo increased in a steady drumming that painfully echoed in her hypersensitive ears.

Breaking through the camp wall barreled a horned deer, dashing by her with such closeness that they almost grazed each others' pelts. It brayed, snorting and stamping as it hurdled across the camp and into the next section of grassland across the clearing.

Dizzying clarity pounded a mental bruise into Petalpaw's psyche. In the fraction of a second proceeding the deer's arrival the apprentice lioness pondered, _What was that about?_

"LionClan!" came Sunpelt's yelp beyond night's shroud of darkness. "Awaken!"

"Brace yourselves—" Lizardclaw's screech fell short as more hoofed beasts followed their predecessor.

Petalpaw was still ahead of the wave of charging deers by maybe a fox-length or two. Thoughts racing, she whipped around and spun on her heels, fleeing in the direction of the deers' marathon. Centered at the heart of their camp was a large, rounded stone called the Highboulder. Orangespot's insightful voice nipped at her ears like a mosquito's shrill whine: _Hooves are for running, not climbing._

It was a gutsy and desperate tactic, but survival and avoiding being trampled by their rock-hard feet extended to rope in all maneuvers.

Yowling over the deers' vocalized tempest, Petalpaw made a straightforward beeline for the Highcoulder and launched herself at its smooth sides. Her hindlegs scrabbled in midair as she searched for a pawhold on its weathered surface; normally, when Goldenstar assembled them for a Clan meeting, he could easily jump on top without climbing. But her muscles weren't strong enough to propel her to such heights—not yet, anyway.

At the moment Petalpaw wasn't sure she would live to see that day come.

Finally, a claw snagged into a furrow cleaved just below her shoulders. Fastening her talons into the crag, the golden feline managed to haul herself over the smooth top. Panting, she flopped on her belly and watched as a sea of antlered heads and tan backsides swarm around her outpost like a river.

Helpless until the stampede receded, Petalpaw was unable to barricade her Clanmates' screams and roars as the creatures—the ones they called _prey_—ruined their camp.

Endless minutes seemed to lapse by until the last stragglers in the herd sprinted gracefully into, through, and out of their home.

For a moment Petalpaw's lone silhouette stretched across the pockmarked earth from the luminescence of the waxing moon. Shivering and numb with horror, she watched as other lions slipped from the shadows and the thickest tussocks of grass where they made their dens. Relief flooded through her body as Goldenstar limped into view. Apart from looking glassy and dull-eyed, and incredulous with shock, her leader was fine.

_Father_.

The very word resonated within the fabrications of her soul, yet dignity and poise were the self-restraints that kept her from hurdling downward and embracing him with soft caresses. Instead, Petalpaw half stumbled, half sprang onto the ground at the foot of the Highboulder and gazed at her ragged, assembled Clanmates.

"Hootkit? Hootkit, where are you?"

Eagleswoop's concerned cry broke the silence as she pushed through the crowd, swinging her muzzle to and fro in search of her cub. "Hootkit!" yowled the queen. Her shoulders were wracked by dry sobs as she slumped beside her mate, Gingernose, and murmured, "He's gone."

Concern swept through the prowl until one voice rose in concern, causing a reactant crescendo to proceed:

"How many more are missing?"

"Why did the deer invade our camp?"

"Where are they going?"

"How will we repair the damages done?"

"_I found Hootkit!_"

Flareheart nudged aside Ravinefall, and the sand-colored lioness picked her way to Eagleswoop's flank with her lost cub dangling gently from her jaws by his scruff.

Jumping to her feet, the queen's lamentation became a hoarse purr of delight as she accepted her bundle of trembling fur.

"Hootkit, you naughty cub!" Eagleswoop scolded fiercely, all the while licking her son protectively around the ears.

Gingernose looked on with grim tranquility.

Stepping forward, Goldenstar bypassed his daughter without a sign of acknowledgment before pouncing atop the Highboulder. Petalpaw studied his visage with scrutiny and was perplexed to see vexation and grave concern shadow his face.

"LionClan!" he called, signaling with his bushy-ended tail for order. In respect and unsettled qualm they hushed like a single entity. Blinking back drowsiness, Petalpaw watched her father framed by the moonlight.

"Tonight was a terrible shock. To address your concerns, I cannot be certain as to why the deer are traveling together in their home herd, or where they intend to go in such numbers," rumbled Goldenstar with a twitch of his ear. "As for the damages, they are mild. Dens were trampled in the process, but that can be corrected with fortification from brambles and vines accessible in the deep forest and jungle."

"What if they are migrating from our territory and enter another Clan's? What will we eat then?" inquired Beetelflight, the medicine cat in training.

"We have endured worse," Goldenstar answered firmly. "The dry-earth season always brings drought, yet every year we manage to find enough prey and water to sustain our Clan. That is how StarClan intended it."

"StarClan has bees in their brains," Petalpaw heard Mudpool mutter to his neighbor, Toothless.

"And with the return of the damp-earth season and its rainstorms comes the inundation, and fertilization of the soil's seedlings." His eyes blazed in the darkness like two private fires kindled by determination alone. Goldenstar vowed, "We will not starve, and the deer will return. Do not fear."

Like a great breeze comforted murmurs swept across Petalpaw's Clanmates.

"Now," he continued with a lift of his chin, "I am glad to report that there were no casualties. Tomorrow, we will—"

"Would you like to rephrase that statement, Goldenstar?"

Anger burned in Petalpaw's belly at the open challenge to her father's authority. _Who said that?_ With a warning growl she swung her face around and skimmed the ranks of watching lions and lionesses, searching for the outspoken member of the audience who had dared to not hold his tongue.

No one moved. Goldenstar's eyes narrowed.

Slowly, the sound of scratchy breathing filled the air, and the onlookers parted to make way for a figure Petalpaw couldn't quite see from her viewpoint.

The curious murmuring turned into caterwauls of disbelief as an archaic, almost skeletal lion padded toward the foot of the Highboulder. By definition Rainpad wasn't attractive. As the oldest medicine cat in the forest, the facial fur around his muzzle had turned gray with age. When he spoke, his noxious breath nauseated Petalpaw; hence, she tended to avoid his den. Rumor had it that its rancid smell came from all of the herbs he ate just to boost his longevity and strengthen his connection with StarClan. Albeit his oddities, the Clan adored him—except for the kittens terrified by his gruesome appearance.

A thud from the bundle of fur Rainpad had been carrying sent up a faint cloud of dust. It was another feline, dead.

It was Startledmouse.


End file.
